, /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. is heading to in to compete at the Bocuse d'Or, the world's most prestigious culinary competition! and secured their spot on the international stage following a 5-hour and 30-minute battle in .
They faced eight countries from North, Central, and . Team secured the Gold and was selected to advance along with two-person teams from (Silver), (Bronze), (4th place), and (5th place). When they reach , Team will once again face these finalists from the Americas selection, alongside finalists from , , and Europe—a total of 24 teams from around the world are vying for the Gold medal.
"I'm so proud to be representing . It's rewarding to see all of our training lead to this result. I'm the type of person who is focused on one goal at a time and now my eyes are set on what we need to accomplish in ," said De Palma who has spent the last nine-months training in preparation for the Americas selection with Commis Waddle.
"We're so impressed by the final plates and platters presented by the other teams and admire the workmanship and professionalism they showed throughout the competition." Each team in the competition was tasked with completing the Bocuse d'Or's two iconic tests: the theme on a plate and the platter theme, both featuring the host region's local and emblematic products, which include wild boar rack, grits, alligator sausage, whole white shrimp, Murder Point oysters, and jumbo lump crab meat. To secure their spot in the finals, Team prepared a dish .